Latest Matt Gaetz News

As Trump picks Florida men for top jobs, new political possibilities open up in the Sunshine State

Nov. 15, 2024 00:13 AM EST

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — As President-elect Donald Trump names picks for his new administration from his private club in Palm Beach and prepares to return to the White House, he’s bringing the Sunshine State with him. With Sen. Marco Rubio tapped to be the next secretary of...

Trump is already testing Congress and daring Republicans to oppose him

Nov. 15, 2024 00:04 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — After a resounding election victory, delivering what President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans call a “mandate” to govern, an uneasy political question is emerging: Will there be any room for dissent in the U.S. Congress? Trump is laying down a gauntlet...

Here are the people Trump has picked for key positions so far

Nov. 14, 2024 21:26 PM EST

President-elect Donald Trump is filling key posts in his second administration, and it's shaping up much differently than his first. He's prioritizing loyalists for top jobs. Trump was bruised and hampered by internal squabbles during his initial term in office. Now he appears...

The Latest: Trump selects anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary

Nov. 14, 2024 21:01 PM EST

President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Trump’s pick of conservative loyalist Matt Gaetz to serve as attorney general has Democrats sounding the alarm with Sen. Dick Durbin...

What are recess appointments and how could Trump use them to fill his Cabinet?

Nov. 14, 2024 20:10 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President-elect Donald Trump moves to set up a more forceful presidency than in his first term, he is choosing loyalists for his Cabinet and considering a tool known as recess appointments to skip over Senate confirmations for even some of the most powerful positions in U.S....

Trump rewards legal defense team, picks lawyer Todd Blanche as No. 2 Justice official

Nov. 14, 2024 18:43 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Todd Blanche, an attorney who led the legal team that defended the Republican at his hush money criminal trial, to serve as the second-highest ranking Justice Department official. A former federal prosecutor, Blanche has...

What Republicans are saying about Matt Gaetz's nomination for attorney general

Nov. 14, 2024 15:41 PM EST

Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s nomination to be President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general has created a remarkable amount of hesitation from Republicans, who are otherwise inclined to follow Trump’s wishes. Gaetz is unpopular with many fellow House Republicans for his...

Republicans win 218 US House seats, giving Donald Trump and the party control of government

Nov. 14, 2024 14:53 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans have won enough seats to control the U.S. House, completing the party’s sweep into power and securing their hold on U.S. government alongside President-elect Donald Trump. A House Republican victory in Arizona, alongside a win in slow-counting...

Gaetz pick shows value Trump places on loyalty — and retribution — as he returns to Washington

Nov. 14, 2024 05:50 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has had few defenders in Congress as reliable as Matt Gaetz, who has thundered at one prosecutor after another for perceived bias against the president-elect and emphatically amplified the Republican's rallying cry that the criminal investigations into him are...

Trump issues early challenge to GOP Senate with defiant nominations

Nov. 14, 2024 00:18 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just hours after Republican Sen. John Thune was elected as the incoming Senate majority leader on Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump presented him with one of his first tests — an announcement that he intends to nominate controversial Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general....